Line #23 VisualNovel/BeMyPrincess


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/be_my_princess_866.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:Clockwise from bottom left: Wilfred, Edward, Keith, Glenn, Roberto, and Joshua]]
3
4	->''Even if the whole world is against us, I want you to be my princess.''
5
6	''Be My Princess'' is a RomanceGame VisualNovel made by Creator/VoltageInc for [=iOS=] and Android devices.
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8	The story is set in a fictionalized analogue of the modern world. The player takes on the role of an ordinary young woman who, through a series of coincidences, ends up at a grand ball attended by the princes of six different nations. After one of the princes asks her to dance, her life is quickly turned upside down and she's swept up into the world of royalty. Can love work out between a normal girl and a prince, or is a romance with the heir to the throne of a nation doomed to end in heartbreak?
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10	The original Japanese version of the game (titled ''Oujisama no Propose'') was released in March of 2012; the English translation was released through the Apple Store and Google Play in June, and a FreeToPlay English version for the social networking service GREE was released in December with a somewhat modified storyline. A French translation, titled ''Seras-tu Ma Princesse?'', is also available. Voltage USA released a more heavily localized version with Western-style artwork under the title ''A Prince's Proposal'' in August of 2012.
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12	A sequel, ''Be My Princess 2'', was released in Japan in January of 2014 and received an English-language release in May. The sequel features the grandchildren of the original cast of princes, as well as introducing two others: Prince Ivan of Sanct Sybil Kingdom and Prince Aslan from Shaharazal Kingdom.
13	----
14	!!''Be My Princess'' includes examples of the following tropes:
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16	* AesopAmnesia: Class barriers present just as much of an obstacle to the princes and protagonist of BMP 2 as they did during the first game, despite the fact that in most routes of the sequel the prince's own ''grandmother'' was a commoner.
17	* AccidentalProposal: One kicks off Keith's route, thanks to the particular customs in Liberty Kingdom regarding royal marriage proposals.
18	* AdaptationDyeJob: ''A Prince's Proposal'' changes Edward's hair from silver to blond, and Joshua's purple hair to brown.
19	* AffectionateNickname: Yu is "Yu-yu" to the protagonist, and has been since they were kids.
20	* AllLovingHero: Edward has a near limitless capacity for kindness and compassion. The protagonist (no slouch in the empathy department herself) muses that this is possibly a weakness in the future ruler of a country.
21	* AlphaBitch: Laura Nicholson, a famous actress and the protagonist's self-appointed rival for Keith's attention on his route. [[spoiler:She shapes up at the end of the route after Keith and Zain both call her out over her behavior.]]
22	* AnimalMotifs: The royal crest of Liberty Kingdom is a lion, and lion imagery certainly befits the proud, confident Alford princes.
23	* ArrangedMarriage: The royal family of Philip has a standing arrangement for the heir to the kingdom's throne to marry a young woman from the Germaine family, Cecille. [[spoiler:Originally the heir was Wilfred's older brother Stephen, making it a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage, but when Stephen abdicated the engagement was transferred to Wilfred instead]].
24	* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: [[spoiler:Ivan]] poses as a guard at his own state funeral in order to catch the man who "killed" him.
25	* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Keith and the protagonist. Tellingly, the best choices on his route are always the ones that involve standing up to him.
26	* BettyAndVeronica: Yu as the Betty and Glenn as the Veronica.
27	* BlindWithoutEm: Edward's eyesight is very bad, and even glasses can only do so much. When he's not wearing his prescription contacts, [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace he has to get very close to people to make out their features and expressions.]]
28	* BondingOverMissingParents: Joshua and Jan as children. A prince of Dres Van is traditionally raised away from his parents, and Jan was removed from his family to be Joshua's companion. A flashback to the boys' first true FriendshipMoment shows Jan cheering up a despondent Joshua by pointing out that while neither of them have their families close at hand, they'll always have each other.
29	* BookEnds: Keith's route begins with the protagonist making an AccidentalProposal after dancing with Keith at Nobel Michel, and ends with Keith dancing with her at Nobel Michel in order to propose marriage for real.
30	* ChangingOfTheGuard[=/=]SpinOffspring: ''Be My Princess 2'' skips ahead fifty years to focus on the grandchildren of the original set of princes.
31	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:Glenn and his butler Yu are childhood friends of the protagonist (though she only remembers the latter), and both are still in love with her.]]
32	* ChildMarriageVeto: Unsurprisingly, Wilfred eventually puts his foot down and refuses to go through with his arranged marriage to Cecille, since he's in love with the protagonist [[spoiler:and Cecille is in love with his brother]].
33	* ChocolateOfRomance: Central to the "A Royal St. Valentine's Day" side story, in various fashions.
34	* ChristmasEpisode: There are three Christmas side stories: "A Royal Christmas," "An Unforgettable Christmas," and "A Timeless Christmas."
35	* CulturalTranslation: Joshua's route in ''A Prince's Proposal'' changes the rice balls the protagonist makes for him into hot chocolate.
36	* DanceOfRomance: The prologue ends and each individual route begins with one of the princes asking the protagonist to dance. Typically, every route includes at least one other ball later on in the story in order to give the protagonist another chance to dance with her chosen prince after they've started to fall for one another. Special mention goes to Keith's route, in which dancing is part of Liberty Kingdom's customs regarding royal marriage proposals.
37	* DidNotGetTheGirl: In the Normal Endings, the prince of the route has grown and improved as a person as a result of his experiences during the route but isn't able to marry the protagonist, who in most cases returns to her normal life in Charles Kingdom and resigns herself to only being able to admire him from a distance.
38	* DubNameChange: In the English versions, Prince Will and his grandson Henry's names were changed to Wilfred and Hayden, presumably to avoid drawing comparisons to the real-life princes [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily William and Henry (aka Harry)]].
39	* EarlyBirdCameo: Kevin gets a brief appearance in Oliver's sequel as an outspoken member of the public.
40	* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Roberto has this effect on people.
41	* TheEvilPrince: Prince Leonardo of Nerwan spends most of Joshua's route playing this role, in addition to being PrinceCharmless. [[spoiler:He eventually reforms in the face of the olive branch Joshua extends to him, but doesn't particularly gain any charm in the process.]]
42	* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Ivan and Mikhail]] keep up the pretense of the former's death in order to lure a rebel leader out into the open.
43	* FamilyThemeNaming: In a potentially unsettling example, Ivan's father and sisters in [=BMP2=] are named after [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia Tsar Nicholas Romanov]] and his daughters [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_Nikolaevna Olga]], [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatiana_Nikolaevna Tatiana]], and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anastasia_Nikolaevna Anastasia]].
44	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Each of the six countries is recognizably based on real-world country:
45	** Charles Kingdom = France: a beautiful country where a sense of aesthetics is highly valued. The GREE version of the game makes the connection more explicit: the storyline begins with the protagonist moving to Charles to begin a career in fashion design, and Edward's Christmas event involves Charles Tower, an Eiffel Tower analogue.
46	** Philip Kingdom = England: a country of long-held traditions where propriety and manners are considered important. [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria It even includes reference to an ancient queen of the country who was remembered well and ruled wisely a few generations ago.]]
47	** Oriens Kingdom = Japan: the second smallest country, but the most technologically advanced. Oriens is also the protagonist's home country.
48	** Dres Van Kingdom = Germany: a country of very strict and numerous laws. Joshua's route introduces Nerwan Kingdom, which split off from Dres Van under circumstances which resemble the separation of East and West Germany.
49	** Altaria Kingdom = Italy: a relaxed nation with a cheerful and good-natured royal family. One of Roberto's side stories features a CityOfCanals clearly modeled after Venice, and most of the plot is driven by the ecological problems that mirror real-life Venice.
50	** Liberty Kingdom = America: the largest and newest kingdom, where the independence of the citizens is respected above all else, so the royal family prefers not to interfere in their subjects' lives more than necessary. In Keith's route, Liberty is revealed to be going through a difficult financial recession.
51	** Nobel Michel, by extension, is very loosely analogous to the Vatican: a castle the grounds of which are considered holy and, thus, neutral territory not governed by any of the six nations. The Six Nations Conference itself is comparable to the United Nations.
52	** BMP 2 adds analogues for Imperial Russia (Sanct Sybil) and Turkey (Shaharazal).
53	* ForgottenFirstMeeting: The protagonist cannot remember meeting Glenn when they were children.
54	* FlowerMotifs / SomethingAboutARose: Edward has something of a rose motif, and keeps a private rose garden at his family's palace.
55	* FreakyFridayFlip: "The Alliance" side story sees this happen to princes Keith, Roberto and Edward.
56	* TheGadfly:
57	** Apprentice butler Theo is a highly perceptive speaker of uncomfortable truths. Lord Michel values his presence in Nobel Michel partly ''because'' he's still able to say and do the things his elders have had trained out of them.
58	** Likewise Yu, who oscillates between this and outright {{troll}}ish behaviour, depending on his mood. He's incisive, somewhat jaded and, according to Claude, "speaks only to provoke."
59	* GiftedlyBad: Keith sings loudly, with great enthusiasm and absolutely ''no talent whatsoever'', as the protagonist discovers when the two of them happen across a singing competition during a tour of Liberty Kingdom.
60	* GroupieBrigade: The princes can't really venture outside without getting mobbed by admirers, particularly in their own countries.
61	* HalloweenEpisode: The "A Secret Halloween for Two" side story.
62	* IdenticalGrandson: Most of the next-generation princes from [=BMP2=] are almost identical to their grandfathers in appearance, with only minor differences in haircut to distinguish them. The only one who's visually distinct from his predecessor is Maximilien Levancois, who has his father's coloring but a very different look.
63	* InterClassRomance: Key to the premise of the game, of course.
64	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Keith. He has a massive sense of self-importance, but he proves to care a lot about the well-being of his country and its people and can be surprisingly warm with the people who are close to him.
65	* LiteralMinded: Joshua. When the protagonist says she'd like a warm home, he takes it to mean he should have a house built for her.
66	* LoveTriangle: [[spoiler:Glenn, Yu and the protagonist.]] Unusually for a Voltage game, the situation is not happily resolved within a few chapters, but remains a source of conflict and heartbreak well into the sequels.
67	* MarryForLove: Inevitably, each prince resolves to do this after falling in love with the protagonist on his respective route - usually in the face of opposition from his royal parents and other politically important people of his country.
68	* MementoMacGuffin: The protagonist's pendant. Though it gets mentioned on several occasions, it only gains plot significance on [[spoiler:Edward's and Zain's]] routes. The pendant belonged to the protagonist's grandmother, who treasured it greatly, and [[spoiler:on Edward's route, it's revealed to have been a gift from a former lover -- Lord Michel.]]
69	* MistakenForPregnant: The protagonist in Wilfred's princess sequel. Since she's married to the crown prince of a nation, the rumour snowballs spectacularly and before long the media is announcing the happy news to the world at large. The protagonist is as baffled as Wilfred is amused.
70	* ModestRoyalty: Quiet, relatively unassuming Wilfred and friendly, approachable Roberto are the best examples.
71	* MomentKiller: ''All'' of the butlers will do this at least once. Notable repeat offenders are Jan (who enjoys making Joshua squirm), and Yu (for [[LoveTriangle reasons of his own]]).
72	* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Sanct Sybil, the Russia analogue in [=BMP2=], is an island nation with a harsh, cold climate and frequent outbreaks of civil unrest. Prince Ivan's primary concern in looking for a bride is that she be healthy and strong enough to survive and have healthy children there.
73	* MundaneObjectAmazement: In Joshua's route, the protagonist makes him a rice ball as a snack when she realizes that he's gone a long time without eating. He's never had one before and becomes fascinated enough with them that he essentially kidnaps her back to Dres Van to make them for him. He's similarly amazed when she introduces him to instant cup ramen in one of the side stories.
74	* NeverASelfMadeWoman: Defied in Sieg's sequel. When the protagonist worries that her princess lessons are coming at the expense of her proficiency at her actual job, Sieg offers to use his influence to get her a prestigious spot at the Nobel Expo. The protagonist declines, as she wants to earn her accolades, not have her boyfriend buy her a career. Sieg is miffed, while Ivan approves.
75	* TheNicknamer: Roberto applies all manner of nicknames to his fellow princes, few of whom are very appreciative.
76	* NoSocialSkills: Despite his position, Joshua simply isn't very good at interacting with people.
77	* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: The protagonist ends up doing this to [[spoiler:Jan]] during his "Falling In Love With the Butler" side story, when she comments on how reliable he is, and how obvious is is that [[spoiler:Joshua]] depends on him. [[spoiler:Since Jan's still a spy for Nerwan at this point in time, this display of faith is not doing his conscience any favours.]]
78	* OddNameOut: Ivan is the only member of the Chernenkov family who doesn't follow the FamilyThemeNaming - the only son of Nicholas II of Russia was named Alexei. Given what happened to the real-life Nicholas and his children, this is no doubt for the best.
79	* OldRetainer: In the first game, Luke's grandfather Alick plays this role as head butler to the Alford family. In [=BMP2=], fifty years after the first game, Luke himself has taken over the position, and is the only one of the original game's cast of butlers to retain the role himself rather than passing it along to his descendants.
80	* OutOfOrder: The English localizations of the holiday side stories have been released slightly out of order, leading to some continuity errors. More specifically, the very first Valentine's Day side story has yet to be released in English, but the Christmas, White Day and ''second'' Valentine's Day stories all reference events that happened in it.
81	* ParentalMarriageVeto: Reactions vary among the various kings and queens when they realize that their son has fallen for the protagonist, but they are rarely if ever supportive, whether it's because they personally find her unsuitable or simply have the unenviable task of reminding the prince that his status and responsibilities will not allow him to marry based solely on his feelings. The worst case probably occurs in Keith's GREE route, in which the King of Liberty is only narrowly talked out of deporting the protagonist from Liberty entirely.
82	* PickyEater: Wilfred hates carrots.
83	* PocketProtector: Late in his route, [[spoiler:Zain's]] pendant saves him when he takes a bullet to the chest.
84	* PrinceCharmless: Prince Leonardo of Nerwan.
85	* PrinceCharming: Edward plays the role to perfection, the only one of the six princes to do so.
86	* TheQuietOne: Wilfred.
87	* RagsToRoyalty: In [=BMP2=], Keith's grandson Andrew Alford was lost in an accident when he was three years old and assumed dead. He was found and raised by a poor couple with no idea of his royal heritage, growing up as [[spoiler:Kevin Grant]].
88	* RebelPrince: Roberto, who's so determined in his efforts to avoid his position and the responsibilities that come with it that his butler Alberto had to put a GPS tracker in his cell phone in order to be able to chase him down.
89	* RomanticRunnerUp: [[spoiler:Yu on Glenn's route]].
90	* RoyalBrat: Keith comes off this way initially, but proves to have a heart of gold underneath his ego.
91	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething:
92	** All of the princes are shown to have quite a bit of work expected out of them due to their positions. Joshua and Wilfred are both shown working so late that they sometimes fall asleep in their offices, and figuring out how best to help the people of Liberty through the country's financial crisis while still respecting their independence is a subject of great concern to Keith on his route.
93	** It holds true in [=BMP2=] as well. In his route, Ivan even goes into battle as a front-line military commander to deal with an armed uprising within his kingdom.
94	* SecretTestOfCharacter: By convention, the future wife of the Crown Prince of Dres Van is expected to adhere to an absolutely punishing schedule of tests and lessons that seems designed to drive her to the limits of her endurance. [[spoiler:The whole thing ''is'' a test -- of the prince's moral fiber. Will he defy the rules of his staunchly traditionalist nation in defense of his fiancée? If the answer is "yes", he passes.]]
95	* ShelteredAristocrat: None of the princes are ''completely'' ignorant of the rest of the world, but several of them are nevertheless rather sheltered. Joshua is perhaps the best example, given that he's spent much of his life isolated from others and has a very limited understanding of how normal people live.
96	* ShipperOnDeck:
97	** Keith's little sister Cathy makes no secret of her hope that he and the protagonist will fall in love with each other, and takes great delight in helping out their relationship.
98	** Roberto in Alberto's "Falling in Love with the Butler" story. He flat out tells the protagonist that she needs to make the first move, because Alberto is dense about these things.
99	* SilkHidingSteel: Princess Catherine Alford is a sweet, gentle girl who never has a rude or unkind word to say to anyone... but when she puts her mind to something, there's not a person in Liberty Manse except ''maybe'' the King and Queen who can keep her from getting her way. Watching her gently but firmly wrap her older brother Keith around her fingers is a sight to behold.
100	* TheSocialDarwinist: Both Joshua and Keith have a bad habit of assuming that high social status implies moral superiority. On their routes, it's generally up to the protagonist to convince them otherwise. With Joshua, the lesson sticks. Keith... not so much.
101	* SoundtrackDissonance: In Joshua's route, when you're in the limo with Jan and you realize [[spoiler:that he spiked your tea]], the same cheery music that you hear throughout the game keeps playing as you [[spoiler:lose consciousness]]. The music continues to play through the scene when you're [[spoiler:locked in a basement in Newan, with the possibility that you might be raped by Leonard.]] Geez, they could have at least [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn turned the music off!]]
102	* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The English localization suffers from inconsistent transliteration of character names. Particularly frequent victims are Jan (Jean), Louis (Lewis) and Zain (Zen).
103	* StayInTheKitchen: The kingdom of Sanct Sybil has a long tradition that only men should work, while women take care of the home. Unusually, this extends to ''any'' kind of work, even jobs normally considered "women's work" such as sewing, cooking, and cleaning - there are no female servants at Sybil Fortress, the protagonist is shooed ''out'' of the kitchen the first time she offers to help out there, and Ivan angrily chastises the royal tailor for "forcing" his wife and daughter to help with some embroidery.
104	** It's further explored in Ivan's Royal Wedding sequel, in which both he and the protagonist receive quite an education on what this tradition means for the country. Talented women who want to develop and make use of their skills tend to leave Sanct Sybil for nations where they can pursue their interests, and women who lack male family members to financially support them face considerable hardships, with single mothers often forced to leave their children in the care of orphanages because they're unable to work to support them. [[spoiler:Inspired by the protagonist's example, Ivan succeeds in passing a bill to protect the rights of women to work, but everyone admits that real improvement is not going to come quickly and it's going to be a long haul to bring Sanct Sybil's gender equality up to speed with the rest of the world.]]
105	* SuccessionCrisis:
106	** In Yakov's route, the king of Sanct Sybil has no children and is not in good health. There are two candidates from the next closest bloodlines - Yakov from the Chernenkov family, Artur from the Gustav family - and since the king has yet to formally declare either of them his heir, the jockeying for position has only contributed to the country's political unrest.
107	** Oriens is heading for one in [=BMP2=], with predictable unrest in the government and general populace as a result.
108	** Liberty is in similar straits due to the disappearance and assumed death of Prince Andrew at the age of three. With no other heir apparent and King Benjamin in poor health, the country has little by way of capable leadership.
109	* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Genderflipped on Edward's route. [[spoiler:The royal conference of Charles (a group suspiciously similar to Japan's Imperial Household Agency) refuses to allow Edward to get involved with a commoner. Then Lord Michel reveals that [[SecretLegacy the protagonist is a scion of a now defunct noble house, and a descendant of one of Nobel Michel's national heroes]], whereupon she suddenly becomes more than acceptable as a future queen of Charles.]] The hypocrisy of it all does ''not'' pass without comment.
110	* SugarAndIcePersonality: Wilfred, although he's much more sugar than ice. It's mostly that he's very quiet and rather reserved compared to the other princes.
111	* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler:Zain]], twice in the same scene. First for Lord Michel, and then for the protagonist.
112	* ThemeNaming: "Aslan" is a Turkish name meaning "lion." Aslan's older brother is named Heydar, a Persian variant of an Arabic name that means "lion," and his butler is named Lavi, a Hebrew name that ''also'' means "lion."
113	* ThievingMagpie:
114	** On Zain's main route, a golden seal goes missing during an event and Theo is initially blamed for misplacing it, if not outright stealing it. [[spoiler:The actual culprit turns out to have been a cat that had taken a liking to the sweet flavour of the special ink used with the seal.]]
115	** Halfway through Ivan's sequel in [=BMP2=], the protagonist's heirloom diamond engagement ring goes missing from her room. Rumors quickly begin to fly around that Mikhail stole it, but the true culprit turns out to be [[spoiler:Ivan's pet wolves, who have free access to the protagonist's room and a distinctly un-wolfish fondness for shiny objects.]]
116	* TrueCompanions:
117	** Although usually occupied by the affairs of their own countries, when it's necessary the princes can be counted upon to pull together to help one another, both for the benefit of their respective nations and on more personal levels. It's noted on several occasions that the six princes' close personal ties to one another make it possible for them to form international collaborations and solutions that simply would not have been possible in previous generations.
118	** In [=BMP2=] Hayden, Sieg, Oliver and Kuon are all close childhood friends whose interactions balance national interests and personal loyalties. In Kuon's main route, the guys admit to keeping an eye on him because of the tremendous stress of his situation. [[spoiler:They had predicted he would bolt, but had hoped to be able to talk him down before things got that bad.]]
119	* {{Tsundere}}: Keith, Joshua, and Glenn all qualify in different ways.
120	** Prince Sieg is shaping up to be this to the other princes, especially Kuon. He was the most concerned for his wellbeing, but when Oliver mentions it, he vehemently denies it.
121	* ValentinesDayEpisodes: The "A Royal St. Valentine's Day" side story.
122	* WarriorPrince: Prince Ivan of Sanct Sybil, who serves as a military commander for his kingdom and fights on the front lines to quell an armed rebellion.
123	* WhatBeautifulEyes: Especially in the GREE version, the protagonist has a lot to say about Keith's gorgeous green eyes.
124	* WhiteStallion: As the resident PrinceCharming, Edward is an accomplished equestrian and favours the white mare Arionne.

Context VisualNovel / BeMyPrincess